NOTES FOR REMARKS: BREAKFAST IN HONOUR OF NATIONAL CHILD DAY IN THE SENATE

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a little odd for me this year as this breakfast brings our National Child Day celebrations in the Senate to a close, usually I would be heading in to the Chamber right now to be floored by the vitality of Canada’s youth.

As you have heard, we held our event yesterday in the Senate Chamber, and it was a great success. I would like to thank the Speaker of the Senate, the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella for allowing children to be heard in the Senate.

All of us here in attendance are working for children. Whether you are employed writing laws to protect children, or you are running a food bank to feed them, you have a role to play in making a child’s life better.

Often times we get caught up in the hectic schedule of our lives and lose sight of what we are doing here, and that is why National Child’s Day is so important.

It reminds us of what it is like to be a child. And this year’s theme goes a long way in achieving this.

If we all take a minute of our day to listen to what the children are saying, I think we will accomplish what were are all working towards.

So I ask all of you here to take the time out of your day to listen to the homeless teenager you pass on the way to work, the disabled child you see at your local skating rink, the hungry children we see in our schools. Even take the time to listen to our own children because it is in listening to them that we truly learn to help a child.

With that, I would like to thank you all for coming, I would like to thank Speaker Kinsella again for hosting this, and I would invite you to listen to our youth once more. The Canterbury Choir!